Former Torrington High School football player Joan Toribio appears in court in rape case

Jessica Glenza

Published 12:00 am, Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Toribio

Toribio

Former Torrington High School football player Joan Toribio appears in court in rape case

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

LITCHFIELD >> A former Torrington High School football player appears on track for trial on accusations of statutorily raping a 13-year-old girl on two occasions. He appeared before Judge John A. Danaher III for pre-trial motions, Wednesday.

Joan Toribio, 18, 330 Highland Ave., Torrington, is facing two counts of second-degree sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a minor. Toribio is one of four former Torrington High School football players facing sexual assault charges.

Rape allegations against Torrington High School football players received national attention, after a March 20 Register Citizen article detailed Twitter cyber-bullying against the two 13-year-old victims.

Two more of Toribio's codefendants remain unnamed, and their cases are sealed, because both were 17 years old at the time of the alleged incidents.

Toribio has been released on $100,000 bond since his February arrest. Toribio's Torrington-based defense attorney, Charles Brower, has declined to comment on the case since its inception.

Hoping to avoid a painful and potentially risky trial, prosecuting State's Attorney Terri Sonnemann has extended at least one plea agreement offer to Toribio. Thus far, negotiations have not resulted in a deal that would exchange Toribio's guilty plea for less jail time than he could face in a trial conviction.

An investigation into the four team members encounters with the two 13-year-old girls was prompted by a Feb. 10 alleged incident at Toribio's mother's apartment.

There, the 13-year-old victim Gonzalez pleaded guilty to raping was force fed alcohol and smoked marijuana for the first time. According to Gonzalez's arrest warrant, the victim said "No," multiple times during the encounter. After sustaining internal injuries, she was subject to a forensic rape evaluation examination, commonly called a "rape kit."

The same night, Toribio is accused of sexually assaulting the 13-year-old victim's friend, also 13 years old. The second victim told police she did not drink alcohol or smoke marijuana, but that she and Toribio had sex.

During the investigation, she told police that she'd, "ruined his life." Police said in Toribio's arrest warrant that the girl "made it apparent" to investigators and her parents, that she "was only concerned for the future football career of Toribio, rather than the issue of an 18-year-old having sex with a 13-year-old."

In Toribio's statements to police, he told Torrington Police Detective Kevin Tieman that, "I understand that [the victim] is now 13 years old and that I was not allowed to have sexual intercourse with her. One of my friends had warned me about this prior, but I did not listen to him." Toribio told police at one point he believed the girl to be 14 years old, which would have still made the alleged encounter illegal.

From the investigation into the alleged Feb. 10 incident, police downloaded more than 20,000 files from the victims' cell phones, eventually leading to additional charges against Toribio, and charges against the two 17-year-old football players.

Gonzalez could face between three and seven years in prison as part of a suspended sentence. Pending sentencing on Sept. 6, Gonzalez's plea agreement calls for 10 years in prison suspended after between three and seven years served. The agreement also calls for 10 years probation, registering as a sex offender for 10 years and he will likely undergo sex offender and substance abuse treatment.

The Torrington High School Most Valuable Player also pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery, in allegations that he jumped three 14-year-old boys in search of cash. Gonzalez's codefendants in the robbery case were also Torrington High School football players. William Castillo, 18, and Jeffrey Holder, 19, are both facing pending robbery and assault charges in Litchfield Superior Court.

Gonzalez was allowed to play for the Torrington High School Red Raiders while facing felony robbery charges and continue to hold the school's 2012 MVP title.